Acts 17 and Gospel Contextualization (Part 2)

Sorry it has taken so long to get up the rest of my thoughts on this passage. Hope you find them helpful.

Start With A Creator God - This is where Paul starts and with good reason. If a person doesn’t believe in one true personal God who created everything and thus has authority over everything and everybody, then you have almost no point of connection with them. A major reason our culture so highly values the individual is because it has lost its sense of accountability to the Creator God. I’m not suggesting that you need to get into debates over evolution and creation all the time. In fact, many times such a debate distracts from the gospel. You can believe in evolution and be a Christian. Many do. But you cannot believe in a naturalistic evolution (evolution not started and guided by God but by natural processes) and be a Christian. I’d rather someone believe that God created aliens and then guided them to create this world, then that they believe in naturalistic evolution. So however one wants to account for the origins of the universe, it must be clear that in Christianity God is the ultimate cause.

Don’t Bypass Judgment - Our culture doesn’t like to hear about God’s wrath. Who would? We’re not really supposed to like to hear about God’s wrath and judgment. It seems that many Christians think this was an okay topic back in Bible days. Back then people liked hearing they were going to hell, but now it makes people feel bad. Not likely. Our culture desperately needs to hear that they are accountable for their evil to an all-powerful Creator God who hates their sin and destroys sinners. Not that we should be mean about it, but that truth needs to be clear.

Don’t Leave Out Resurrection - I believe in Jesus because he rose from the dead. If he didn’t, then there would be no point in trusting that he is different than any other great religious thinker. The resurrection is an issue for which every person has to have a good explanation. If it happened, then that changes the entire universe. Natural laws have been broken, death has been defeated, Jesus is God, the universe is turned on its head. It transforms the way you view suffering, death, morality, God, yourself, everything.

Don’t Feel Compelled To Say Everything - Paul’s sermon is fairly general, and leaves out a ton of information about Jesus, the cross, the Church, etc. Many think that once they engage someone in a conversation about God that they have to summarize the whole gospel and bring it to a point of decision. Often this isn’t realistic or necessary. If a person can’t get past a Creator God, then asking them to put their trust in Christ right now doesn’t seem wise. We don’t have to say everything. Sometimes we can and should, but that’s not every time. And the further our culture drifts from a Christian worldview, the more time we’ll have to spend building a foundation.